21st July was a nervous morning. It was my first day at work. I got up early, finished my breakfast and rushed to the regional office with all documents that carried any sort of description about me. I spend that one day waiting to know which branch would be allotted to me. I spend the next day also waiting... Two and a half days later I got my branch.
The afternoon of the 23rd of July was a dull and rainy one. I had to report to my branch before 4:00pm. I was welcomed with smiles. I had just started exploring the branch when I noticed that I had approximately thirty vouchers waiting on my table. Every minute's delay brought in more and more vouchers. I guess the customers blamed their fate that day for the delay in getting their work done. I saw many of them go out of the branch red faced.
Two days (difficult days) had passed in the branch when I got the news of our manager's transfer. One week later the cool guy left for the North-East with a heavy heart leaving us to face all credit worthy problems. We were riddled with thousands of problems and queries. Everyday a new problem would arise from nowhere.
First day we learnt that we were now the sole authority of closing the shutter of the branch (it is quite heavy).
Second day we received news about the death of a very generous customer (it accompanied the hassles of settling a death claim without a bank nominee).
Third day another customer threatened us with dire consequences if his demands were not met with. Fourth day we received another death claim(this was a easy one though).
We had just learned to ignore all problems and live carefree when the fifth day shocked us and gave our hard earned "we-dont-care" approach a jolt. It was the news about a ZIC inspection.
For the next four days we became like obedient children to the inspector. Our roles were dual. Managing the branch and serving the inspector. All that he asked for was immediately done. First day was uneventful. We obeyed dutifully. Second day brought a few hassles in managing the branch staff. Third day the branch almost caught fire. 😞 Some important electric wire that took load off the other wires had melted, putting extra pressure on the rest of the wires which were already melting. This was the reason for the permanent burning smell emanating from the circuit box. Electricians were summoned and tenders collected. But nothing melted the hearts of the branch keepers. They wanted cheaper tenders, they expected us to bargain more and if necessary roast ourselves in the fire that was waiting to engulf the branch.
The afternoon of the 23rd of July was a dull and rainy one. I had to report to my branch before 4:00pm. I was welcomed with smiles. I had just started exploring the branch when I noticed that I had approximately thirty vouchers waiting on my table. Every minute's delay brought in more and more vouchers. I guess the customers blamed their fate that day for the delay in getting their work done. I saw many of them go out of the branch red faced.
Two days (difficult days) had passed in the branch when I got the news of our manager's transfer. One week later the cool guy left for the North-East with a heavy heart leaving us to face all credit worthy problems. We were riddled with thousands of problems and queries. Everyday a new problem would arise from nowhere.
First day we learnt that we were now the sole authority of closing the shutter of the branch (it is quite heavy).
Second day we received news about the death of a very generous customer (it accompanied the hassles of settling a death claim without a bank nominee).
Third day another customer threatened us with dire consequences if his demands were not met with. Fourth day we received another death claim(this was a easy one though).
We had just learned to ignore all problems and live carefree when the fifth day shocked us and gave our hard earned "we-dont-care" approach a jolt. It was the news about a ZIC inspection.
For the next four days we became like obedient children to the inspector. Our roles were dual. Managing the branch and serving the inspector. All that he asked for was immediately done. First day was uneventful. We obeyed dutifully. Second day brought a few hassles in managing the branch staff. Third day the branch almost caught fire. 😞 Some important electric wire that took load off the other wires had melted, putting extra pressure on the rest of the wires which were already melting. This was the reason for the permanent burning smell emanating from the circuit box. Electricians were summoned and tenders collected. But nothing melted the hearts of the branch keepers. They wanted cheaper tenders, they expected us to bargain more and if necessary roast ourselves in the fire that was waiting to engulf the branch.
Our inspector by now had taken over as our guardian. A few phone calls later some good for nothing electrician had finally taken over the matter on himself. He took one day to fix the problem and next day more than half of our branch plunged into darkness.
The seeds of our next chapter was already sown during the short circuit issue. One day of darkness became too much to bear. Reactions did not come immediately. They poured at the first best opportunity. It involved the unions and men with muscular tongues 😈. We swallowed everything. Stories of our struggles had by now spread far and wide. We became the talk of every branch, 'two young "children" tortured at branch'. Such sympathy ensured it was our last adventure. Within a week we got a new branch manager. I worked with her for a year and working with her proved a lot more eventful than my first month for all the wrong reasons again😐.
